Ex-homeless helped in Aylesbury thanks to developer

Shanly Homes has helped out three charities across Bucks & Herts.

A share of £22.5k from a developer is helping a homelessness charity in Aylesbury.

Aylesbury Homeless Action Group are going to use the cash from Shanly Homes for their starter packs - for those they help into new homes.

Money has also been given to Wycombe Homeless Connection and Hertfordshire Young Homeless.

Aylesbury Homeless Action Group, Herts Young Homeless, and Wycombe Homeless Connection support people at risk of being homeless or those without a permanent home.

The donation comes as Shelter, the homelessness charity, publishes its latest figures, according to which the number of homeless people in the UK has risen by 23,000 since 2016.

Aylesbury Homeless Action Group and Wycombe Homeless Connection help vulnerable adults, offering free advice as well as helping people resettle into permanent housing by working with local housing providers, both private and public.

In 2019, Aylesbury Homeless Action Group was able to assist more than 230 people in the local area thanks to its numerous volunteers.

Herts Young Homeless specialises in helping young people throughout Hertfordshire. The charity offers education, health, mediation and housing advice to those at risk of homelessness or without a place to live.

Tamra Booth, Director at Shanly Partnership Homes, said:

"We're delighted to support these charities and hope the donation will enable them to continue providing their much-needed services, and help some of the most vulnerable people in our communities on the road to rebuilding their lives."

Sarah Welford, Case Worker at Aylesbury Homeless Action Group, said:

"This donation will make a huge difference to our organisation.

"We will use the funds to buy more starter packs for those who have just relocated to permanent homes, including bedding, crockery and other essentials, enabling people to have the basics so often taken for granted."

James Boultbee, Chief Executive of the Wycombe Homeless Connection, said:

"We're very grateful for this generous donation, which will allow us to provide our permanent staff with training courses - we would like them to be able to obtain the Level 3 Certificate in Supporting Homeless People, which is very costly, so the donation could not have come at a better time."

Leonie Maddin, Team Leader at Herts Young Homeless, said:

"The donation will help to support our ongoing project, Live Life, designed for young people who have previously experienced homelessness.

"As part of this project, we offer people volunteering opportunities, which help them build up confidence and make a fresh start with new skills."

In 2018, Shanly Partnership Homes donated £15,000 to three other homeless charities, including the Brett Foundation, a Maidenhead charity that supports families moving into properties after they've been homeless; North London Action for the Homeless, a Stoke Newington-based homeless charity and Youth Concern, an Aylesbury-based organisation supporting vulnerable young people.

National: Boris Johnson will make a key speech on rebuilding Britain's economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, amid growing concern that he does not have an effective strategy for preventing a second peak of the virus.